


Secrets we keep

by andaleduardo



Series: Richie & Eddie - requests [6]
Category: IT (2017), IT (2019), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Cute, Fluff, Funny, Hammock, I LOVE THE SHOWER CAPS, I hope, Let's all thank Stan for the shower caps, M/M, The Losers Club, Yo-Yos, and eddie being extra energetic as usual, another hammock one shot, just Richie being a dumbass in love, the clubhouse, they bicker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 23:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20804552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andaleduardo/pseuds/andaleduardo
Summary: A prompt requested on tumblr : “You heard me say what in my sleep? Wait–why were you even listening in the first place?!”orRichie is a dumbass who happens to be in love and Eddie takes a nap.





	Secrets we keep

If you were to ask Richie what his favorite place on earth was, he would say the clubhouse without hesitation. Yeah sure, it was also located in Derry, also known as the _worst place on earth_ if Richie could say so himself. But it felt as if it were far away, nowhere exactly. It was their own world, their own corner, sometimes it could feel more of a home than their own houses.

And that applied to all seven of them. 

Every corner of the clubhouse was filled with amazing memories, all of them engraved in their hearts. Stupid doodles and words carved into the wood. Little trinkets, toys and pictures littering every surface. Movie tickets pinned to the pillars, low quality polaroids hanging on battery-charged christmas lights, and all kinds of cozy additions they managed to bring down there. 

Now, they kept blankets and pillows inside a big box so that they wouldn’t get dirty, per Stan’s request, and some old stools and bean bags that took up a lot of space, but they weren’t complaining. The hammock was still a part of the family, of course.

The clubhouse had been the stage of many memorable moments. On top of that, Richie had some fun self discoveries while being down there. The most prominent one, painted in big bold letters, being the realisation that what he felt for Eddie was more than just friendship. This, of course, lead to a more obvious conclusion.

So, Richie liked boys. Big deal, right?

_Yeah,_ a pretty fucking big deal that got him tearing his hair out and biting his nails away.

But well, life kept going and Richie had to learn to cope with the knowledge that he had a crush on his best friend. Also had to learn how to control himself whenever they sat close, or touched, or had any type of interaction. Which meant always. Richie had to learn how to control himself _always_. Because Eddie was _always_ touching him and bickering back at him and being annoying (which Richie loved). And Richie would blush and sweat and stutter like Bill.

Now they were sixteen, so Richie had enough time to perfect his skills. Three years to be exact.

Of course, all those skills were thrown out the window as soon as he caught himself alone with Eddie. He just couldn’t help but feel like he was thirteen again, having just figured out about his feelings and acting like a complete idiot.

Right now was one of those moments. Richie had been tired of being home so he decided to go down to the barrens and hang in the clubhouse. He did that a lot, even if none of his friends were there he would still stay. But he quickly noticed he wasn’t alone as he climbed down the ladder and took a glance around the space. A pair of legs hanged off the hammock. Legs that could only belong to Eddie because of the familiar sneakers and white socks. 

Immediately, Richie got his years of practice into action. 

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite type of pasta hiding down here on this fine summah day!” He exclaimed as he jumped from the third step.

The answer was silence. 

The pillar was blocking Eddie’s face from Richie’s vision so he made his way over to the hammock only to realise the boy was asleep, an unfinished comic laid open on his lap.

This was the type of situation Richie didn’t really know how to deal with. Two full minutes passed as he stared at Eddie’s sleeping form, trying to decide if he should wake him up by flipping the hammock upside down or let him sleep and wake up on his own. But soon those thoughts shifted. Without noticing, Richie wound up staring at Eddie’s peaceful face with no other thought in his mind besides: _‘That’s cute.’_

“Fuck.” He sighed loudly. And then proceeded to keep staring like an idiot. It sounded creepy even in his mind, but he couldn’t help it, okay? Eddie was just that cute, and he was never allowed to stare because Eddie would start hitting him and telling him to _‘quit it, you creep’._

Richie wasn’t a creep, or so he hoped. He was just hopelessly in love.

Now, there’s a thought that doesn’t scare him at all, no sir.

“Fuuuck.” He groaned again and physically forced himself to walk away, looking for something to do while Eddie took his nap. Surely he’d be waking up soon.

For a total of four minutes Richie busied himself with his yo-yo, mindlessly walking in circles around the small space and only stealing glances at his friend once or twice. After that, he was downright bored, so he started looking around the stuff they kept stored down there hoping to find another distraction.

Stan’s can of shower caps stole his attention right away. He squinted at it curiously while an idea popped into his head. Stan had bought one shower cap for each of them, and Richie knew somewhere in that little tin there was one with a dinosaur print that was meant to be his, but he never worn it out of pride. 

Throwing another look over his shoulder to see if Eddie was still asleep, Richie grabbed the tin. Since he was the master of subtleness, he let the lid fall on the ground with a horrible noise. His neck snapped back to check Eddie, but the boy didn’t even stir. Okay, that’s cool.

Leaving the lid on the ground for the moment, Richie found what he was looking for and carefully placed the tin back in its place. It was no big deal, he just wanted to put his shower cap on at least once, so that’s what he did. Patting the top of his head to matt it down a little, he felt a little ridiculous, but he liked the pattern Stan picked out for him. He had always been a fan of dino-

_“Richie.”_

_“Shit! _I’m not wearing this, you are!” Richie fisted the thing off his head and threw it far away without looking before turning to face Eddie. Who was… still asleep and giggling?

Right, Eddie talked in his sleep, sometimes. Richie could almost sigh from relief.  
When they were younger, Eddie would sleep over at Richie’s frequently even before he discovered the sleep talking thing. The first time it happened Richie almost peed himself because he woke up to Eddie sitting on the feet of the bed and whispering at him.

_“Tell him to leave, Richie… he’s taking my space… send him away.” _

It hadn’t been fun. Richie had started crying because he didn’t know what the fuck Eddie was talking about and they were eight, okay? He was allowed to cry when he thought there was a demon laying in bed by his side that only Eddie could see.

Over time it had gotten better, Eddie didn’t move much now while he slept, but he still mumbled and called for the people he was dreaming about. 

Which meant he was dreaming about Richie. And giggling at the same time.

Richie was sure his face was very red, it suddenly felt really hot inside the clubhouse. He had decided to let it go and try to find a subtle way to wake up Eddie when the boy started mumbling through giggles again.

_“Rich… stop that…” _

And that was enough to make his ears burn and for him to do a reckless thing. He stomped his way over to the hammock and fisted both hands on the fabric. Then, he tugged and screamed “WAKE UP!” while Eddie’s body rolled onto the ground on the other side with a loud _thump._

“WHO FUCKING DIED?!” Eddie screamed as he woke up mid-air, a split second before he fell on the wood. “FUCK!”

Still unaware of Richie’s presence, Eddie groaned as he slowly lifted himself into a sitting position and massaged his forehead from where he hit it on the floor. 

Richie was a jerk.

“Morning, sleeping beau-

“HOLY FUCK!” Eddie screamed again.

“Jesus, can you scream some more? I think there’s still a piece of my left eardrum that’s intact.”

“Did you fucking push me, asshole?” 

“No...?” Richie tried.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Eddie spat as he got up and brushed dirt and dust from his clothes. 

Richie tried to come up with an answer, but it was useless as Eddie started one of his ‘let’s trash Richie and speak a million words per second’ discourses. The only thing that came to his mind to save his ass from having to listen to Eddie’s endless rambling was to say something really fast and, most importantly, without thinking first.

“I heard you saying my jokes were funny in your sleep!”

**_“You heard me say what in my sleep?” _**Bad choice.**_ “Wait–why were you even listening in the first place?!_** How long was I asleep? You should have just woke me up-”

“Aw Eds, you’re just embarrassed because now I know the truth. You think I’m funny, I’m _hi-la-ri-ous!”_

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose and placed a hand on his hip in deep frustration. “You know what? Fine! Whatever you say, Richie. If that helps you sleep at night.”

It was really the perfect opportunity. 

“Helps me? More like helps _you_ sleep at night, Spaghetti. But there’s no need to be ashamed! I get it, I get it, I’m so handsome that I appear on all your dreams to make you happy all night long-”

And then the metal lid of Stan’s tin flew right onto his head.


End file.
